Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
Guide to the Records of the Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1874-1968
AC.0024
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
- Creator
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alumni Association
- Title
- Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology records
- ID
- AC.0024
- Date [inclusive]
- 1874-1968
- Extent
- 3.3 cubic feet (10 manuscript boxes)
- Location
- Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
- Language
- English
Citation
Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Executive Committee and Alumni Council Minutes, AC 24, box X. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Historical note
In 1875, seven years after the first class graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1868, an Alumni Association was formally set up to foster contact between the Institute and its graduates. Members of the class of 1873 first discussed a formal organization at their first annual dinner in 1874, leading to the formation via a Constitution in 1875, “to further the well-being of the Institute and its graduates by increasing the interest of members in the school and in each other."
A small Executive Committee was established and first met in January 1897 to oversee the general interests of the Alumni Association. A broader Alumni Council was created by a revision of the By-laws of the Association in 1909 which provided a mechanism for closer collaboration with the Association of Class Secretaries, which then served as an adjunct group to the Alumni Council. The first meeting of the Alumni Council was held on May 12, 1909, and the 401st and last meeting of the Alumni Council was held on May 28, 1968. On July 1, 1968, it was reconstituted as the Alumni Advisory Council. 1
The Association of Class Secretaries was formed as a distinct group in 1896 to promote class spirit and to systematize all matters pertaining to class organization and record. This group initiated several activities which continue today. The Association of Class Secretaries formed a three-member Committee on Publications, made up of Arthur D. Little, class of 1885, C. Frank Allen, class of 1872, and James P. Munroe, class of 1882. They conceived the plan to publish a quarterly alumni magazine. The first issue of Technology Review was published in January 1899. In 1910, the magazine began to be published monthly during the academic year. Oversight of Technology Review was later turned over to the Alumni Association. Another project of the Class Secretaries was the tradition of the annual sponsorship of Technology Night at the Pops. The Class Secretaries were also important in organizing and focusing alumni support against the Harvard-MIT merger proposed by MIT President Henry Pritchett.
The Executive Committee last met on June 11, 1968, and ceased to exist on June 30, 1968, as specified by the amendments to the Constitution and By-laws. Most of its functions were taken over by the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association, which first met in October 1968. The Board of Directors sets policy for the Association, and is overseen by an Executive Vice President. A National Selection Committee nominates alumni and alumnae for appointment to the MIT Corporation, under whose by-laws at least one-third of term members must be alumni or alumnae. In 1990 the name of the Association was changed from the Alumni Association to the Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Note
1. From the Executive Committee and Alumni Council Minutes.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
This collection includes the earliest records and minutes of the Alumni Association, dating from 1874 discussions of its formation to the formal minutes and report from 1875, when the Alumni Association was organized. There are records of association reports of departments and instruction, as well as the separate Committee on the School; Committee on the William Barton Rogers Scholarship Fund; the Committee on the Walker Memorial; and the Publications Committee.
It also contains a complete set of Executive Committee minutes, January 5, 1897, through June 11, 1968, and a complete set of Alumni Council minutes, from the first meeting May 12, 1909, though the 401st and last meeting, May 27, 1968. Minutes of both groups are bound together from 1909 to 1961; starting in 1962 they are housed separately.
Topics include athletics, musical clubs, the Tech Show, The Tech, Technology Review, cooperation with Harvard, the move to the Cambridge campus and other alumni events and celebrations, and interactions with the MIT Corporation.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
MIT LibrariesBuilding 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139-4307
617.253.5690
mithistory@mit.edu
Revision Description
2013
Access note
The collection is open for research.
Intellectual Property Rights
Access to collections in the Institute Archives and Special Collections is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to the Institute Archives.
Related Materials
Related Materials in the Institute Archives
The Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Records (AC 224).
Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Board of Directors records (AC 25).
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alumni Association
Function(s)
- advisory bodies
Subject(s)
- alumni and alumnae
- alumni and alumnae funds
- alumni and alumnae social life and customs
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology--History
Collection Inventory
| Box | ||||
|
Alumni Association records and minutes October 1874 to December 1891 |
9 | |||
|
Alumni Association records and minutes typewritten copy October 1874 to December 1891 |
9 | |||
|
Alumni Association annual meeting minutes December 1892 to June 1900 |
9 | |||
|
Alumni Association annual meeting minutes typewritten copy December 1892 to June 1900 |
9 | |||
|
Alumni Association published annual reports 1876 through 1906 |
10 | |||
|
Report on the general plan of instruction undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Chemistry by William R. Nichols undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on chemistry courses for mining engineers and metallurgists undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Civil Engineering undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Mathematics by Webster Welles undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Mining Engineering undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Philosophy undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on drawing undated |
10 | |||
|
Report on drawing at the Institute undated |
10 | |||
|
Resolution regarding William Barton Rogers circa 1870 |
10 | |||
|
Alumni meeting January 27, 1876 |
10 | |||
|
Report on drawing circa 1876 |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Mining Engineering 1877 |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Mechanical Engineering, by Richard Soule January 6, 1877 |
10 | |||
|
Report of the Department of Mechanical Engineering 1877 |
10 | |||
|
Report on the Department of Metallurgy 1877 |
10 | |||
|
Subscriptions to the Permanent Fund of the Alumni Association 1878 |
10 | |||
|
Report of the Committee on the School, includes the 1878 Report on the Women's Laboratory by Ellen S. Richards 1882 |
10 | |||
|
Report of the Committee on the School 1884 |
10 | |||
|
Report of the Committee on the School January 14, 1885 |
10 | |||
|
Report of the Committee on the School 1898 |
10 | |||
|
Committee on the William Barton Rogers Scholarship Fund records 1885-1898 |
10 | |||
|
Committee on the Walker Memorial 1898 |
10 | |||
|
Views of the Institute by a manufacturer and a graduate of the class of 1892 circa 1898 |
10 | |||
|
Publications Committee records 1898-1909 |
||||
| Box | ||||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1897 January 5 to 1906 December 21 |
1 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1907-1911 |
1 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1912 February to 1922 July |
2 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1922 November to 1927 June |
3 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1927 October to 1932 May |
3 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1932 October to 1937 June |
4 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1937 July to 1942 June |
4 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1942 August to 1947 June |
5 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1947 October to 1952 June |
5 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1952 October to 1957 May |
6 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee and the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1957 October to 1962 May |
6 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1962 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1963 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1964 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1965 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1966 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1967 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of MIT 1968 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1962 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1963 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1964 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1965 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1966 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1967 |
7 | |||
|
Minutes of the Alumni Council of the Alumni Association of MIT 1968 |
7 | |||
|
Microfilm of Executive Committee and Alumni Council Minutes, February 1912 through June 1968 (nine reels), includes Technology Review, October 1965-January 1969 and Advisory Council Minutes, 1968-January 1969 1912-1969 |
8 | |||